The Ghost's Child
by MonstersInTheMoonlight
Summary: Adam is a young boy living in Mistralton City with his mother. Everything is calm and peaceful...until he meets a new friend. With a suspicious crime wave washing over the area, and Adam's increasingly odd behavior, just what will the young boy find himself mixed up in as the peace and quiet give way? In the words of Toby Mac, "Welcome to the quiet before the storm hits".
1. The Ghost's Child, pt1

_'Adam…Adam…come, Adam…'_

Adam was sitting beneath a large tree, looking out over Mistralton City from the hillside of Twist Mountain. The sun was beaming down, bathing the landscape in a rich, warming light. The only sounds were the chirping of nearby birds and the gentle breeze swaying the leaves of the trees around.

_'Adam…Adam…come to me, Adam…'_

The voice was louder now. Adam sat up, looking around questioningly for who it was that was calling him. But there was no one else there.

_'Adam…wake up, Adam…come…'_

His eyes opened to the darkness of his room. He sat for a moment, before coming to his senses.

"A dream, huh?" he said aloud to himself. Facing the ceiling, he felt warm as he lay in bed, the gentle breeze flowing through his open window, carrying the silence of the night to him.

_'I thought I closed the window…'_ he thought, feeling the cool breeze waft across his face.

"_Adam, wake up…"_ It came from behind his bed, near the window. The voice was clear, now, but still little more than a girl's whisper. Adam sat up and turned to face her.

A woman stood just outside the window, the moonlight covering her in a soft white glow. She wore a dark dress with white fabric over her chest. Her eyes were a very light shade of green—so light that they almost seemed to glow in the shadow of her face. Her hair was a light shade of blue, and hung down near her waist. For a moment, he forgot what to say, but he remembered what his mom had always said about acting like a gentleman when around a lady.

"G-good evening," he stuttered, surprised by the woman's beauty.

_'So pretty…'_ Adam thought as the woman smiled at him through the window. _'But, wait…'_

"How did you get up there?" he asked the woman, standing outside his window on the second floor of the house.

"_I flew,"_ she responded with a light laugh, keeping her voice low and quiet. Adam was surprised.

"You can fly?" he asked, his childish mind running away with the idea.

_"Only a little,"_ the woman answered.

"Cool!" Adam replied loudly. The woman looked surprised for a moment before raising her finger to her lips.

_"Ssshhhh…Your mother is sleeping,"_ she said, keeping her voice low, hardly more than a whisper. _"You don't want to wake her this late, do you?"_

"Oh!" Adam whispered loudly as he covered his mouth with his hands. "Sorry," he whispered.

_"It's alright,"_ the woman said. Adam looked at the slight smile on her face.

"I'm Adam. Who are you?" he asked quietly as he got up from bed and walked towards the window. The woman seemed to giggle slightly.

_"A friend,"_ she answered. _"You weren't at the Tower, today, were you?"_ she asked him. He usually went to the Celestial Tower almost every day, playing with the ghost-Pokémon that came around, and praying for the ones that were buried there.

"I couldn't go today. I had a lot of homework from school."

_"Ah…well, that's no good. They missed you, today."_ She reached through the open window, pushing the hair out of his eyes and grazing the boy's cheek with her gloved fingers.

_'Her hands feel so soft,'_ Adam thought. He looked at her clothes again—a longer dress that looked like a ballroom gown, black with white going across her chest, light blue marks and tassels joining the black and white fabric together, with silky skin-tight gloves over her hands.

"Do you play at the Tower, too?" he asked her, thinking that she must have seen him there before.

_"Sometimes,"_ she answered. _"I was thinking of going there, now."_

"Now? But isn't it late? Would it be okay to go alone? What about the Pokémon that come out at night?" Adam asked, looking at the clock on his desk. It read 1:37am.

_"A little,"_ she replied. _"Would you come with me? Then I wouldn't be alone."_

"But, I don't have any Pokémon."

_"That's okay,"_ she said softly. _"I'm sure we'll be fine if we go together."_ Looking into her eyes, Adam felt the urge to go to the Celestial Tower with her.

_'I couldn't go earlier, after all,'_ he thought to himself. _'And it would be fun to go and play with the Pokemon, too.'_ With that, his eleven-year-old mind was made up.

"Yeah, let's go! But I have to be back before Mom wakes up, or I'll be in trouble." Adam went towards his desk and grabbed his shoes, coming back to the window before he put them on. The woman laughed gently, her light smile spreading across her face. She held her hand out to Adam, who took it eagerly.

_"Let's go, Adam,"_ she said as Adam lifted off the floor. She held his hand as he floated through the window and to the ground below.

"Wow!" the young boy exclaimed in a whisper. "This is so cool! Are you like a magical witch?!" The woman laughed more once they put their feet on the ground.

_"No, no—nothing like that,"_ she replied happily. Adam, still holding her hand, lead the way towards the Tower outside Mistralton, closer to the Twist Mountain entrance. As he lead the way, talking about the different Pokemon at the Tower and the games they could play, she smiled warmly at him, shifting her gaze down to their hands.

_'I found you,'_ she thought to herself.


	2. The Ghost's Child, pt2

As soon as the bell rang at the end of class, Adam was already running out of the classroom. He flew through the hallways as the other students began leaving from the afternoon lessons. In no time, he was already at the schoolyard gates. With a sense of relief at being off the school grounds already, he slowed to a walk and started catching his breath again.

"Man, today was too long!" he exclaimed to himself, hearing the voices of other students behind him. With his bag slung over his shoulder, he raised both arms over his head into a stretch.

_'But now that school's out, I can hurry and get home. The sooner I finish the homework, the sooner I can go to the Tower with Cyan.'_

Cyan. The name he had given to the mysterious woman who had appeared outside his bedroom window over a week ago. She had come back twice, since then—both times by surprise, tapping on his windowsill until he woke up, before going to the Celestial Tower with him. But, today, she suggested meeting earlier. The thought brought a smile to his face.

_'Cyan…that's a weird name, isn't it?'_ He remembered her teasing him about it when he first called her that during their third trip to the Tower.

'_What do you mean, you don't know your name?'_ He remembered back to when he had asked her what her name was. She seemed a little sad.

_'I don't remember having a name,'_ she responded, looking over the headstones on the top floor of the tower. He started to think about what she must have meant.

_'Well, since you don't have a name, then you're Cyan!'_ She quickly grew confused at what he had said. She turned to him with a slight giggle.

_'Cyan…that's a weird name, isn't it?'_ she asked him. _'Why Cyan?'_ He grinned from ear to ear when she asked him.

_'Because your hair is a really pretty blue, and your eyes are a really light green, so…Cyan!'_ Her confusion seemed to turn to amusement as she smiled back at him with a chuckle.

_'What if I don't like that name?'_ she asked him, jokingly. He clearly missed the joke, however, and his face turned serious.

_'What? You don't like it?'_ The dejected look on his face was too much, and she laughed.

_'No, no—it's fine, it's fine,'_ she said through the laughter. Relieved, he had turned to see the Ghost-type Pokémon that were loitering around the room.

_'Cyan…huh…'_ she said softly, though he could just hear the sound of her voice. He turned to look at her.

She was sitting on the floor a few feet from him, wearing the same ballroom dress, with her arms folded on top of her knees and her chin resting on her arms. Her head was slightly cocked away from him, with her long hair hanging over her shoulder. The blue fire from the few nearby Litwick and the hanging oil lanterns covered the room in a soft blue and orange glow. He could see the light from them reflecting in her eyes, and a soft smile was spread over her face. It was then, he decided, that he started to like Cyan.

"I wonder if she has a boyfriend?" he asked himself out loud. She was definitely older than him—she had to have _somebody_, right? But before he thought too much about it, he started to walk faster on his way home.

_'Worry about that later—the sooner this homework is done, the sooner you can meet her!'_

He was home before too long, and found himself breezing through the homework assignments. The work from his Math class was the quickest to do, equations to plot on a graph that made a smiling Pikachu-face. He started his History assignment next, reading through the chapters about the legend of Zekrom and Reshiram during the Great War long ago. Then, his English homework, having to diagram a page of sentences, labeling all of their parts. Before he knew it, he was finished. He looked at the clock on his desk. 6:00pm.

"Alright!" he said to himself, quickly putting his books and papers back into his bag for tomorrow. "Let's go!"

He was almost running down the hallway towards the door when he heard his Mom call to him.

"Are you heading out again, Adam?" she called as he passed the door to the living room.

"Yeah, I'm going to the Tower." He answered as he tied his shoes.

"Alright—but don't be out late. Take your Xtransceiver, and I'll call you when supper's ready!"

"Okay! Be back later!" Once he was outside, he simply ran. Living closer to the center of town, it took a several extra minutes to reach the Tower. A sense of excitement rose up in him as he reached the edge of town, and took the first steps onto Route 7. Rounding the first major turn in the route, the famous raised walkways appeared before him with the uncomfortably tall wild grass beneath. Not even slowing, he hit the incline and shot up the path, only slowing once he cleared the ramp and began walking on the level portion. The field was laid out before him, and he could see numerous Pokémon from the walkway. Here and there, the occasional Trainer was out, finishing their training for the day.

"It must be cool to have your own Pokémon," he said, breathing heavily as he began catching his breath. He continued on the walkway.

_'I can't even think of being a Trainer until I'm fifteen…'_ he complained to himself. His mother was absolutely adamant about it—no Pokémon to train until he was at least fifteen. Then, she would think about it.

"No Pokémon to train…but would I really want to be a Trainer?" he asked himself as he approached the next bend of the route. Keeping his balance, he made the sharp turn on the walkway. "I think I'd rather be a Breeder—I don't want to just battle all the time." It was true—battling could be fun, for sure, but he didn't want to _just_ battle. He wanted to _raise_ Pokémon. "When I get my first Pokémon party, I'll raise them to be strong—stronger than anything else! And then, when they're strong enough, I'll raise some more! We'll go exploring—who needs gym badges? They'll be part of my family." He stepped off the end of the walkway, back onto a cleared footpath. Looking to the distance, he could see the Celestial Tower looming ahead, reaching above the tree line towards the darkening sky. He smiled again.

_'I wonder if she's there already?'_ Without another thought, he ran the rest of the way to the Tower. He came to a stop in the clearing around it, walking up to the entrance. As he stepped inside, he paused for a moment, saying a quick prayer for the deceased Pokémon buried here. Once he opened his eyes, he quickly scanned the bottom floor. Cyan wasn't there, though.

_'Not here yet, huh…then, I'll go ring the bell first.'_ It was a habit of his—every time he came, he would ring the bell before he left. After all, if the spirits liked to hear the bell, then shouldn't everyone ring it when they come? Many people wouldn't, though. He made his way to the top of the tower, scanning each floor as he made his way from one staircase to the next. Still no sign of Cyan. As he stepped out onto the roof of the tower, he looked over to the bell. He made his way over to it, stepping up onto the platform that held the bell up in the sky. As he approached it, he clasped his hands together. Once he stood before it, he bowed his head again, and prayed—this time, for a long moment. After what seemed like minutes, he opened his eyes, looked up to the bell, and gripped the rope as he always does.

"Rest in peace, everyone." He gave the rope a hard pull, making sure to put what strength he could into it. The first chime was almost always the loudest—at least, it seemed like it—and the deep ringing tone echoed through the air and the field below. A second followed, and a third, then a softer, final fourth chime. He waited with his eyes closed, listening to the chimes echo as the cool wind swept across the area. Once the last echoes faded away, he opened his eyes again. Cyan was standing near the base of the platform, watching him with a smile.

_"It's a beautiful sound, Adam,"_ she said to him. _"You must have a loving heart."_ The wind itself seemed to carry her voice to him, she spoke so softly.

"I just want to make them happy, you know?" he said to her, glancing back at the now silent bell. "Everyone should be happy." The smile on her face seemed to grow as he spoke.

_"You should come inside—the air is getting chilled. We wouldn't want you getting sick, now would we?"_ She held her hand out towards him. For a moment, Adam was slightly confused.

_'She's just being nice—so stop being stupid!'_ he chastised himself, walking forward and taking her hand. But looking at her face when he grasped her hand made his cheeks start to burn—that same, warm smile just seemed to grow, with the same gentle, loving stare from her eyes. He turned away before he knew that she could tell he was blushing. What made him nervous was her holding his hand—he could feel her fingers grazing over his skin as, one by one, she simply moved them across his palm. She'd do the same with her thumb over the back of his hand. Glancing at her face, he could see her staring at their hands before noticing him, looking at his eyes with that disarming smile. He was nervous. He felt unusually warm, and could hear his heartbeat pounding in his head. But at the same time, he didn't dare let go.

Once they reached the third level of the tower, they sat on the floor. It wasn't long before the Litwick found them there. Several were soon gathered around, their blue flames casting soft glows over the light from the lanterns. Once several of them had gathered, Adam started playing games with them as Cyan watched. The Litwick happily scurried around, hiding in different places during games of hide-and-seek, or rushing across the floor in games of tag. It was obvious that Adam came here often—the Litwick knew the games, and were quite friendly towards the boy. A few more would simply drop on top of him from above before he began tossing them into the air and catching them. Watching them, Cyan couldn't help but laugh. Nearly an hour passed before Adam began to show the first signs. His movements were growing sluggish. Finally, he took a seat on the stone floor before lying down, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath. The Litwick stayed nearby, but didn't pester him as he tried to rest.

_"Alright, little ones,"_ Cyan said as she rose to her feet. _"That's enough, now."_ She waved her hand over the Litwick as their ghostly flames went out, leaving only the orange glow of the lamp light. She looked back to Adam, sprawled out on the floor with his eyes closed, his breathing growing more and more relaxed seemingly by the moment. With a great big smile across his face.

_"You shouldn't overdo it, Adam,"_ Cyan cautioned him as he opened his eyes again and looked back to her. _"You know about these little ones, don't you?"_ He smiled again.

"My teacher says that they live off of people's energy," the boy replied. "She says that the more energy you have, the more energy they can take from you."

_"She's right, Adam. You have to be careful—if you play with them too much, they might just take all of your energy."_

"Then it should be fine, right?" Cyan looked at him, a confused look on her face. "That just means I have to be more energetic, and we can play longer, right?" he questioned, the playful grin working its way back across his face. Cyan's confused expression quickly gave way to laughter as she raised her hand to her mouth.

_"Hahaha!"_ Her open hand closed into a loose fist, and she put her arm behind her, holding herself up as she leaned back. _"Perhaps, but you should still be careful not to overdo it."_

"Hehehe…Sorry," the boy chuckled. "It's just too much fun!"

A familiar chime cut through the air as Adam's Xtransceiver started ringing. He sat up quickly and clicked it on.

"Adam, supper's almost ready," his mother said to him as her face popped up on the screen. "Start heading home, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm coming," he answered politely before hanging up. He turned back to Cyan again. Leaning slightly away from him, her hair hanging behind her, bathed in the light from the hanging lanterns, he could quickly feel the blood rushing back to his cheeks.

_'She's way too pretty,'_ he thought to himself as she raised her head up, opening her eyes to look at him. He quickly looked away.

"W-well, I have to go home now," he stuttered nervously again as he stood up. "It was a lot of fun, today."

_"Yes, it was. Can we meet again tomorrow?"_ The question filled Adam with a sense of excitement.

"Yeah, of course!" Adam almost blurted out. _'Yes! She wants to hang out again!'_ he thought to himself. After a moment's silence, he began walking towards the stairs.

_"Adam…"_

"What is it, Cy—" he saw an arm reach out from behind him, and he froze. It reached over his shoulder before crossing over his chest, and he could feel a hand resting over his heart. He could feel something press against the back of his left shoulder, squeezing him slightly. He could feel someone's breath through the light fabric of his shirt, and his cheeks were burning again.

"Cyan?" He said her name nervously. He knew it was her—he recognized the gloves on her forearms, and the bits of her dress that he could see at his sides from her kneeling down behind him.

_"You have a very kind heart, Adam,"_ she said, her breath hot against his back. _"A warm heart. A loving heart. Promise me that you won't let it change."_

_'What is she doing!?"_ he thought to himself in a near panic. His heart must have been racing—he felt as though he were on fire. Aside from her voice, there seemed to be an unnatural silence in the air that sent a chill down his spine. _'What does she mean, don't let my heart change? Stop freaking out, you idiot! Think about what she said.'_

You have a very kind heart, Adam. Promise me that you won't let it change.

_'She's not saying anything weird—she just wants you to be always be you, right!? It's not anything that's strange to say! So stop freaking out!'_

With this thought in mind, Adam managed to calm himself down slightly. But, being held so close to her, he couldn't calm down completely. For a moment, as his own words came back to him, he remembered what she had just said, and what it must have meant. Swallowing what felt like a lump in his throat, he reached up and touched her hand.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll always be me."

_"Thank you, Adam,"_ he heard her say as she slowly released him. He turned to look at her, wondering what kind of face she was making.

Was she sad? Was she smiling? Was she happy?

But when he turned, she was no longer there. Confused, he scanned the room for her, but couldn't see her anywhere.

"How does she do that?" he asked himself as he made his way down to the ground floor. He stepped outside into the night air and headed for home. He raised his hand to his chest, placing it over his heart, where her hand had been. It felt warm.


	3. The Ghost's Child, pt3

The moon was beginning to set in the early morning hours as the first orange glow appeared in the sky from the rising sun. Matthew reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out what remained of an older pack of gum, popping a piece into his mouth as he kept his eyes fixed on the sight before him. He kept a hand on the radio clipped to his belt—Anne should be answering his hailing any minute. A Herdier sat beside him, constantly looking across the small clearing off of Route 7's main path.

"At'a boy, Max," Matthew said as he knelt down, running his hand over the Herdier's brow.

"Matthew, this is Anne. Come back." The voice was loud and clear over the radio, startling him. He reached for the walkie, turning the volume down slightly as he brought it up to his mouth.

"Annie, it's Matt. Any chance you could come take a look at somethin', or are you too far out? Over."

"I'm in the thick west of Twist Mountain's entrance, right now. What'cha got, over?" she replied, bending a limb out of the way so she could walk through the heavy underbrush on her patrol route.

"We've got another one, over." She stopped mid-step at her partner's reply.

"What's it look like, over?" A new, serious tone flooded her voice.

"Same as the others, Annie. Mature Zebstrika, a buck this time. No signs of a battle. No other tracks in the area. And Max has a whiff o' somethin' he don' like, over." Matthew glanced away from the Pokémon's corpse, quickly scanning the area again. Besides Max and the deceased Zebstrika, there was nothing around.

"Alright, I'm heading your way. Did you already call it in, over?"

"Nah, not yet. I was gonna' wait 'til you took a look at it, see if we could try and think up anything that might explain this. Healthy Zebstrika don' just keel over for no reason, but this is the third in three weeks. Somethin's goin' on, here, and I don' like it, over."

"That makes two of us," Anne said, back-tracking to the Twist Mountain entrance. "You're still on the south end, right? I'm heading for the road, so I'll ping you when I get closer. Go ahead and call it in, though—the Mayor needs to know about it so he can start putting the warnings out there. Skyla would want the heads up, too. Over."

"Copy. Watch yourself, Annie. Keep that Unfezant handy, will'ya? We don' need anything to be creeping up on you, now. Over."

"Geez, thanks," she retorted sarcastically. The concern in Matt's voice kept her from getting too upset, though. "Just when I was enjoying my moonlit stroll, you had to go and say that." She grabbed the first Pokeball from her belt clip, tossing it forward. As it sprung open, her Unfezant took to the sky, hovering just above the tree line nearby. "Keep an eye out for me, will you, Lefty?" The Unfezant turned itself slightly, glancing back at her as it cooed.

The sun was rising over the horizon when Annie stepped into the small clearing on the southern end of Route 7, Lefty hovering just overhead. On the far side, she could see Matt and Max keeping watch over the area.

"Marco," she heard Matt come over the radio as he waved to her.

"Polo," she radioed back, holding back a laugh. As she walked up, the Zebstrika came into view.

"Exactly like the others," she stated plainly, putting the radio back on her belt.

"No bull, Annie," Matt started. "Wha'd'ya make o' this?"

"Definitely isn't poaching," she answered. "No scavenging, so it's got to be pretty fresh. No damage to the area to indicate a battle. I'm honestly not sure about it."

"You know what gets me?" Matt asked again. "These mules are 'prty strong. Not only that, but they're stubborn. But, on top of that, they're skittish. They feel like somethin's creepin' up on 'em, and they just Discharge—light up the whole area so that they can wheel around an' get their bearin's on what's facing 'em. But ain't none of these even done that. What does that tell ya'?" Annie looked at him for a moment.

"That something's getting the drop on them before they realize it, and takes them down before they can react," she said, squatting beside Matt and the corpse.

"You know anything around here that can do that? Take one of these down that quickly?" Anne thought for a moment.

_'What have we seen here lately? This route has some Tranquill, these Zebstrika, but nothing stronger than that. We are close to the mountains, though…But it wouldn't be something like the wild Gurdurr we see, or some Boldore—they're typically peaceful. And they couldn't take these Zebstrika down without any signs of battling. They're too physical. Then, what…?'_ She thought about it for another moment.

"I don't know, Matt," she finally replied. "What about you? What are you thinking?" Looking up, she saw Matt staring back towards the Celestial Tower, popping an oran berry into his mouth.

"I think we need a Psychic," he said as he bit into the fruit. "Only things that come to mind for me are livin' right over there." He raised his hand and pointed at the tower. As she realized what he was referring to, she only grew more confused.

"What, the Litwick?" she questioned. "Come on, Matt, that can't be it. Those things aren't near strong enough to take a Zebstrika like that. It takes them nearly an hour to drain a person of enough energy to put them in a critical medical state. Or do you think they're ganging up on things?" As she jokingly said that last sentence, the thought of it hit her.

"No, not quite," Matt retorted. "But I can't think of many things 'round here besides them that could do something this way. Like you said, it'd take a swarm of 'em to do enough damage that quick, but there's no way that many would be movin' around unnoticed." He popped another berry into his mouth.

"I think we need a curfew in place and a couple 'o' Psychics to look around." Annie grew confused again.

"Wait a minute, what about a curfew?" she asked. "Sure, these recent deaths merit a warning for the city, but why a curfew? That's a bit overboard for right now, isn't it?"

"When I called this 'un in to the Dispatch, they told me another missing persons report's been filed with the Police. A girl named Alicia Simmons, disappeared about a day-and-a-half ago. She was last seen headin' out this way for some training. No one's seen or heard from her since, and no one can contact her on the Xtransceiver. On top o' that, they've also had three more claims of Pokémon disappearin' from around town. The three went missin' about three days ago, now. So, by my count, that puts us at two missing persons, five wild Pokémon found dead—this one right outside the city limits—and nearly a dozen missing Pokémon claims. All in the last two months." Annie looked at him for a moment, shocked.

"We need a curfew, now," Matt concluded. "At least until we figure what in the world's goin' on around 'ere."

"We need a manhunt, in my opinion," Annie countered. "We need to sweep these woods for whatever we can find!"

"Yeah," Matt said as he popped in a third berry. "That's what I said. But you know the routine—we can't let the support to the airstrip get lax while we do it. We're the Rangers, not the Police. They handle the crime in town, and we handle what goes on outside it—including keepin' watch over Skyla's airfield." Annie bit her tongue as he spoke—she knew what he meant. "They're hedgin' their bets that Team Plasma's behind the disappearances of the Pokémon, maybe even these deaths. They've been sweeping the other areas today, too, with the other Ranger groups. One missing person could be someone just leaving—but a second changes the game. All Dispatch could tell me was that they're lookin' into a lead on the first boy, and to keep 'em posted on what we find."

"You said the new girl was seen heading this way, right?" Anne asked, a thought clicking in her mind.

"Yep. What'cha thinkin', Annie?" Matt replied.

"Three or four days ago, Dispatch got a call from one of the residents. Said that her son had left for the tower, but was late coming home. He had me go check on him—I found him sprawled out, sleeping by an oak tree a little ways out of town. I thought I saw a woman nearby, but she disappeared before I got a good look at her."

"Thinkin' this mystery woman is related?"

"I don't know…but apparently, that kid goes to the tower a lot. He might have seen or heard something on one of his trips there. Or maybe tell me if this mystery woman _is_ related or not."

"Or he might've been our next missing person," Matt added solemnly. "I'll go tip the Police while you do your thing. Make sure to ask about this mystery woman, eh?"

"Don't need you to tell me, partner. I'll keep you posted on what I find."

"A'ight. I'll head for Dispatch, talk things out with them, the Police, and the Mayor. Later, Annie."


	4. The Ghost's Child, pt4

The sky was a dark, dark shade of bluish black as Adam pulled the covers up over his face. Though as soon as he did, he threw them back, sat up and swung himself around so that his feet touched the floor, stood and walked over to his window before flipping the little lever on top of the sliding part back. He slid the window up slightly—just enough that he could slip the tips of his fingers under it. Smiling, he walked back over to his bed, pulled the covers back over his face, and closed his eyes to try and sleep.

_'I almost forgot…'_ he thought to himself. Cyan couldn't get in if he left his window locked.

This was the fourth day of him being grounded—ever since the Pokémon Ranger came by, he had been grounded and couldn't go to the tower with Cyan. She was asking him about her, about what she was like, what they did, what her name was. But something didn't feel right—the Ranger was a little too serious. And why was she so curious about Cyan, anyway? So, Adam didn't tell her a single thing. But, then the Ranger pulled Mom aside, and when they came back she was very angry. She showed a sketch of Cyan to him, saying that the neighbors had seen her with him as they walked to the tower together.

_'Tattle-tails…'_ Adam thought to himself under the covers. They kept saying that Cyan was dangerous—people said that she was seen with one of the two missing Trainers that disappeared. That she was suspected of hurting wild Pokémon nearby.

_'No way.'_ Adam thought again. _'She's too nice.'_ He looked down at his hand, and smiled. Even though he was grounded, Cyan still came to see him. She came by every night—they even snuck out to the tower two times, playing with the Litwick and talking more.

_'And she likes me!'_ he thought happily to himself. The first night he was grounded, when they snuck out to go to the Celestial Tower, he tried to not hold her hand. He thought she might think it's too childish. But before they even started walking down Route 7, she asked him to.

_'I like holding your hand,'_ she had said. _'Isn't that what you do when you like someone?'_ That alone made him feel like the king of the world—his pride swelled up with those words, feeling like his heart was about to bust out of his chest. He heard the window quietly slide up, and a faint blue glow shone through the covers.

_'Huh? What's that light?'_ he thought to himself as he pushed the covers back, looking towards the window.

"Cyan?" he whispered.

Adam's mom walked down the hall towards her son's room, checking in on him before she went to sleep, as well. The last few days were hard—the Rangers and Police stopped by every day to ask him more questions. Not that he would tell them anything, though. She opened the door and poked her head in at him.

The woman was outside the window, her arms wrapped around Adam standing inside. Before Adam's mother even realized just what she saw, the woman and her son disappeared through the window.

"ADAM!"


	5. The Ghost's Child, pt5

The world was a blur. He couldn't tell anything from anything else—trees, homes, the landscape of Twist Mountain; it all ran together into one giant blur. He was moving, though. Even in this daze, he could tell that he was moving. And his hand was warm.

_"Come, Adam…"_ the soft voice echoed, and the urge to follow it dominated his mind. His legs were heavy, his arms felt numb, noises all seemed to fade in and out like he was playing with the volume on his PC back home. New sounds cascaded in as a group of lights passed by. Voices?

"Where…am…I…?" he managed to ask slowly, his own voice sounding distorted and strange to him.

_"Come, Adam…"_ And with those words, his worry vanished, replaced by the sole need to follow the warmth that guided his hand through the world of blurs.

"Okay…" he answered meekly. Something tightened around his hand, leading him through the blurring things. More strange noises, more lights, darkness, blurs. Were they faces? What were these strange sounds? Why did his body feel so strange?

_"Follow me, Adam…"_ And again, all thoughts left him. As the blurs passed him by, he could feel his legs moving. It felt so weird—he seemed to be moving at a snail's pace, taking several moments to simply lift his foot, move it forward, step down. Repeat. And then, the blurs disappeared into darkness.

"Where…did…"

_"Shhh…"_ He could feel something against his lips. _"Sleep, Adam…"_

Even though the voice said to sleep, the world of blurs came back. Faint, dim shapes blurring back and forth. A soft blue light sometimes grew out of these blurs. Then, it would vanish. His body felt heavy. He could hardly move his legs, and his arms were still numb. He felt something around his chest as the blurs shifted up and down, instead of left to right. Something was pulling him, his back was against something warm. He could feel something hard against his left side. Something cool, but not cold.

_'Lying…down?'_ The thought lazily drifted through his mind as he tried to learn what was happening to him. The warmth from behind him faded, rolled over his side to his chest, disappeared. A familiar face faded in from the world of blurs.

"…Cyan…?" His distorted voice again. Blurring, the face seemed to smile and fade into the distorted world. The warmth was behind him again, with something wrapped around him. Something else touched his face. He felt warm.

And then, the blurs faded into darkness.

His eyes slowly opened to the soft glow of the early morning, as the first rays of sunlight began covering the area. He was groggy, and his arm was sore. As he rolled his head on the sheets of his bed, he felt a rough surface against his skin. Lifting his head, as his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he realized he wasn't at home in his bed. He was lying on a floor of bare stone. Looking around, he realized he was in a small cave. The light came from ahead, where it looked like a walkway curved around, letting the light from outside in. He went to lift his hand to his face when he realized he couldn't. Glancing down, he noticed an arm wrapped around him, pinning his own arm down. He recognized the glove on its hand, though. Turning his head to the side, he could see the familiar blue hair and the lower part of the dress that Cyan always wore. He could feel something against the back of his shoulders—and the sleeping breaths against his skin.

_'Cyan?'_ he thought to himself. _'She's sleeping?'_ Looking around, he saw that only one of her arms was over him, holding him in her sleep. But, it was simply over him, not actually holding him anymore. Carefully, he worked his way out from her, taking care to move slowly so as not to wake her up. Once free, he stood up. His legs ached from sleeping on the stone floor. He stretched, feeling all the soreness from his arms, as well.

"Where am I?" he whispered, heading for the cave entrance. He didn't have to wonder for long. Turning the corner of the cave, he walked a few steps before turning a second corner, and walked out onto a forested hillside. He could hear waves, but could only see trees and grass. He turned around, and was met by the ocean. He walked along the hillside, making his way to the top nearby. Looking out over the shoreline, he could see large houses along the beach. But, the sun was rising behind him, over the ocean. Was he—

A large villa was on the opposite side of the town from him. He could recognize it—he'd seen it in several magazines. The Riches' Villa.

"Undella Town?" he said surprised. "How did I get here?" He thought about the world of blurs. Had he been travelling here from Mistralton? Were the lights and voices from people in the cities between here and there? But, he had just went to sleep last night at home—he couldn't have come this far. He looked at the watch on his left hand.

July 29th. As he read the date, he grew confused. Yesterday was the 7th, how could today be the 29th? What had happened during that time? How did he end up in Undella with Cyan—

Cyan. His thoughts stopped there. He thought about when she came to his room last night. He saw the strange blue light, and got up to see her. He remembered seeing her at the window, but what was—

Fire. He remembered seeing fire. Blue fire. Cyan showed him the blue fire in her hand, and…

_'Then, what?'_ Adam thought. After the fire, he only remembered the world of blurs. And waking up today. _'What did she do?'_

Two arms came over top of him, wrapping around him from both sides as he was pulled slightly back. He felt something warm behind him as Cyan's face rested on his shoulder.

_"Good morning, Adam."_ She greeted him softly as she hugged him.

"Cyan, what happened?" As she let go of him, she stepped beside him as she spoke.

_"I wanted to bring you here. I want you to stay with me."_

I want you to stay with me. Those words echoed as Adam's heart skipped a beat. But, something else was more unnerving.

"Cyan…how did we get here? This isn't my home. What happened?"

_"You…don't like it…do you?"_ she questioned dejectedly. Adam could hear the hint of sadness in her voice. Her eyes were looking down towards the ground, the simple smile vanished from her face. It was only a few words, but the tone of her voice was enough to make his chest ache.

She sounded like she had tried to give him something, but was now sad because he didn't like it.

"I—It's not that I don't like it," he started, trying to say something nice. "But, what about Mom? What happened? I don't remember anything from after you came to the window."

_"They wouldn't let you see me,"_ Cyan responded. _"They wouldn't let you see me, so I took you away."_ She turned her head slightly towards him. _"I brought you here."_

"But that wasn't all, right?" Adam questioned again. "What's happened all this time? Cyan, what happened over the last three weeks? Why can't I remember?" Thinking, several cloudy memories flowed back to him. He remembered walking on the shoreline. He remembered going through the forest, gathering berries. He remembered Cyan starting a fire near the cave, and eating some kind of cooked fish.

_"I'm sorry, Adam,"_ the woman nearly whispered, hanging her head. _"I wanted you to be mine. So I kept you here. I just wanted you to be mine for a while."_

His head was spinning. Cyan brought him here…with the blue fire? How did she do it? She used the blue fire to make the world of blurs? Like a spell? Was that what happened—she used the blue fire to keep him in the world of blurs for this long, just to stay with him? Part of him was nervous, almost afraid. Just who was Cyan to be able to do something like that? Making him float through his window was fun, but this?

But more than fear and nervousness, Adam was touched. She did this _for him_—so that they could still see each other. She liked him that much.

_"Please, don't hate me, Adam…"_ before he knew it, she was kneeling in front of him again, pulling him against her and pressing her forehead against his shoulder. His chest ached. She had always been calm, and with that gentle smile on her face. But, now, she was clutching him as though her life depended on it, her face buried in his shirt.

"I don't hate you," he said, bringing his arms up and hugging her back. "I can't hate someone I like." Cyan seemed to relax some. "But you can't just do something like that—I've been gone a long time. Mom's probably freaking out, and…" trying to think of other reasons to justify what he said, he suddenly couldn't find any other reasons besides that. "Well, Mom's freaking out, and you're not supposed to do things like that." She tensed up again.

"And how am I supposed to have fun here if I can't remember anything, huh?" He started to slowly rock back and forth.

"I don't mind coming here with you, but no more blurry stuff. And I'll have to call home to let Mom know that I'm okay. Oh, man, she's going to be mad…"

_"I'm sorry, Adam…"_ Cyan whispered again.

"It—" Adam stopped midsentence. 'It's fine,' was what he wanted to say. But he knew that it wasn't. But even considering what Cyan had done, seeing her now, he couldn't be upset. He just wanted to see her smile again.

"It's fine," he finally finished. They sat there for a long while—the sun was already over the horizon, bright light covering the area with the warmth of sunlight. Finally, Cyan spoke.

_"There's a party I wanted to go to here. Parties seem like fun, so I wanted to go to one. There's a big one here in a few days. Will you go with me?"_

"Of course," he replied. He knew he should be angry. But having Cyan ask him to a party just made him happy.

_'I need to get home,'_ he thought to himself. He had been missing for three weeks. Looking at Cyan, though, shattered that thought.

_'It can wait a few more days, right? I'll just call. And, after the party, then we can head back home. Cyan must've really wanted this—so let's just stay for a few more days.'_

"Okay, so here's the plan," the woman started as the gathered Team Plasma members listened. "In three days, there's going to be a huge party hosted at the Riche's Villa. Most of the socialites in Undella will be there. A lot of rich people, and a lot of them with Pokémon. We're going to split into two groups—Group 1 and Group 2. Group 1—" she motioned to the six grunts on her left side. "You guys are going to be the group inside. You'll be holding them up to get whatever valuables and Pokémon you can. Got it?"

"Got it," another grunt replied.

"Group 2," the woman continued as she pointed to the eight grunts on her right, "You're going to be outside. Keep a lookout for any of the Rangers or Police. They show up, you keep them back. Got it?"

"Got'cha," replied the nearest grunt.

"Good! 'Cause we need to bring in a big haul to call this plan a success. I'll be scoping out the area for an escape route. Don't do anything stupid before the party. To Team Plasma!" she exclaimed as she thrust a fist into the air.

"To Team Plasma!" the group resounded.

"Undella Dispatch, this is Ranger Team Three, Matthew Johnston an' Anne Holiver, reportin' in to the area. Any updates, over?" Matt radioed in, Max at his side. Anne and Lefty were just ahead, surveying the town from the west side foothills.

"Ranger Team Three, this is Undella dispatch. We have you confirmed from the Mistralton dispatcher—y'all took one heck of a hike to get here. Over."

"Yeah, well that's how we do business. Any more sightings of our missin' boy or the Jane Doe, over?"

"Negative. Last report was about a week ago. That makes three sightings of him in the area, and four sightings of Jane Doe, within the last few weeks. No other strange occurrences have been reported in, over."

"Copy. We're goin' to be settin' up camp on the west side of town, just east o' the foothills for now. We'll work our way 'round to the north an' down through the town in the next few days. We'll be stayin' on Channel 7, over."

"Copy, Channel 7 for Ranger Team Three from Mistralton. Be advised, Ranger Teams Five and Nine are also canvasing the area, starting from the south-east shorelines. They're on Channel 4. Ranger Team One is also currently in the town limits aiding the local Police, Channel 5. Over."

"Copy, Channel 4 for Teams Five and Nine in the south-east, Channel 5 for Team One in town. Ranger Team Three, over'n'out." Anne looked back to her partner as Matt hung the radio back onto his belt.

"I've got a good feeling, Matt," Anne started, putting her hands on her hips as she looked out over the town.

"Don't get relaxed yet, Annie," Matt cautioned her. "They might'a found the Simmons girl, but she was also nearly killed by our Jane Doe. Just 'cause we're 2'fo'3 don't mean that number three won't be taken home in a casket."

"I find it hard to believe that Jane Doe would've tried to set her on fire, though," Anne rebutted. "You really think she'd do that to the boy she abducted?"

"I don't know. I do know that Max, 'ere, doesn't like it a bit—his hair's been on end since we followed whatever trail he picked up at the boy's house. And I got a bad feelin' 'bout this."


	6. The Ghost's Child, pt6

The woman's eyes slowly opened as the light of the late morning worked its way into the cave. Looking at the illuminated cave walls, an overwhelming joy seemed to flood within her.

Her chest was warm.

Almost in disbelief, she looked down and on seeing the boy sleeping in her arms, a great sense of relief washed over her. A great smile spread over her face as she warmly watched the boy.

_'Adam!'_ She felt like screaming his name, but refused to disturb his sleep. Waking to the first morning where the boy was freed from her trance that had led him so far from home for so long, he was still with her. Sleeping in her arms, as though nothing had happened at all.

She wanted to hold him tighter—she wanted to somehow express this burning joy that now seemed to fill her being. Despite what she had done, despite the fear he must have felt when the trance wore off, despite what he must have thought of her, he _chose_ to stay with her.

_'He's really here…'_ she thought warmly, grazing his cheek with her gloved hand. _'What an open, loving heart…'_ Smiling, she gently squeezed the boy, unable to refrain. She brought her face down to the boy's hair, and merely held him for a moment.

_'He's really here…'_ She couldn't sit still any longer. The overwhelming warmth in her chest—the joy she felt—was making her restless. Without a sound, and without even moving the boy, she leaned up, propping herself up on an arm as she looked down at him. Closing her eyes, she moved her face down to his as her long hair fell over him, gently pressing her forehead to his.

_"Thank you, Adam…"_ she whispered. In one swift, soundless movement, she was now standing beside the boy, her eyes still glued to him. Finally breaking her gaze away, she moved towards the cave entrance and stepped outside. The morning was glorious—the sunlight dancing over the area was brilliant, and the golden shimmers reflecting from the ocean's surface was dazzling to behold. A gentle breeze seemed to caress the landscape, whispering through the numerous trees and rustling their leaves with a sound that almost seemed to compliment the gentle crashing of waves on the nearby shoreline. The sound of wild birds put an airy accent to the natural serenade that now filled her ears.

_'Is every day this beautiful?'_ she thought, walking into the wind with her arms outstretched, almost as if to catch it. Indeed, she couldn't remember the last time a calm morning seemed so…pristine. Surreal.

_'Could any other day have been so beautiful, waking to him in my arms? Even the worst storm brings its own grace—would every day be as this?'_ Indeed, as she stood near the rocky outcrop that dropped to the shore below, she felt as though she could have born witness to anything and still find its beauty on this morning. So strong was the happiness she felt in these moments. For weeks, Adam had been with her. They roamed through the cities and routes between Mistralton and Undella, living off of what they could find and wherever they could sleep—sometimes an inn, sometimes a cave—and feeding on wild berries and trapped fish, sometimes small game that she had killed for him, having to bathe in rivers and streams. And surely, he was beginning to remember such things now that her constant trance was lifted. Why was today so different from those times? Was it simply because he stayed? Lowering her arms to her sides, she could feel her love for the boy surging through her chest. A boy who accepted her from the heart. A sense of gratitude filled her, as well, at her fortune for having spotted the boy as she passed through Mistralton near the Celestial Tower.

_'The home of my earliest memories…'_ she thought with a smile. _'To think, it gave me this, as well.'_

She felt something grab her hand, but before she could even look to see what, she heard Adam's voice.

"Good morning, Cyan." He stepped beside her, squeezing her hand as he did. She turned her head to see him, his eyes taking in the view around them.

And from the warmth in his eyes, the smile on his face, she could see that he was feeling quite a similar joy to her own.

_"Good morning, Adam,"_ she replied.

He stood motionless for a moment, captivated by the morning. He had a dream last night, a dream of some of their travel from Mistralton. They were travelling the marshland just outside of Icirrus, gathering berries as they went. Caught in a sudden rain, they took shelter in a tight group of trees. To stay warm, they stayed together through the rain. And once it ended, they stayed in the sunlight to dry out and warm up. Waking up in a cave this morning, it finally hit him.

He had been missing for weeks.

He had been living on wild berries and the occasional cooked fish.

He hadn't taken a proper shower since he left home, merely bathing in whatever clean streams or rives they crossed.

And he was _enjoying_ every moment of it.

Travelling with Cyan, coming to Undella, and essentially camping all the time—as the memories started fading back into his mind, he felt happy. He only felt irritated that he couldn't enjoy what happened when it actually happened, only looking back on the memory with a smile and a laugh.

_'Weird…'_ he thought to himself. But, he didn't complain. Looking back on the last few weeks, he came to a thought. That he left home because he _wanted_ to, not because Cyan _made_ him. With that in mind, he suddenly felt much happier about everything.

After all, who wouldn't want to be stranded near a famous beach resort with someone that they liked? Remembering something she had said to him before, while in the world of blurs, he spoke first.

"You know, I'm going to need a proper shower before we go to the party," he started. "And probably a nicer outfit." Looking at himself, he noticed the clothes he was wearing—almost clean, for being washed in river water.

_"Hmhm…"_ Cyan giggled to herself. _"I know. That's why I've been saving what money I've procured—for the party."_

Perhaps someone else would've wondered why Cyan never needed to bathe in the rivers, or why she never needed money to get buy, or why she always wore the same dress which never got dirty. But, in the world of blurs, he learned something else about her. He learned who she really was. Another thought he had woken to—the true Cyan. Yet, even knowing, he still felt the same towards her. Even if no one else could understand it, _he_ could. Maybe that was why she liked him—because he knew the real her, and could simply accept it.

"Two days until the party," Adam stated. "So, what do you want to do?"

_"Hmhmhm…"_ she giggled again. _"How about a walk?"_ And with that, the two began walking down the shoreline towards the beaches of Undella.


	7. The Ghost's Child, pt7

"Shit!" Matt cursed under his breath as he thought about the events that led him to his current situation.

He had found the boy he spent the last three-and-a-half weeks tracking from Mistralton all the way here to Undella. Responding to a report of a sighting at the party hosted in the Riches' Villa, he had left Anne at the eastern shoreline to scope things out. Sure enough, the boy was there. Along with Jane Doe. After relaying his location to Anne, he had procured a butler's uniform from one of the mansion's caretakers—realizing that the mansion was now housing an abducted child and the criminal who had whisked him away, the staff was more than cooperative, willing to allow Matt in undetected until assistance from the other Rangers and Undella Police arrived, offering to help however they could. And then _they_ appeared.

"Alright! Anyone try anything stupid, and this whole place is coming down! Do what we say, and you'll all be just fine!" The apparent leader of the Team Plasma members spoke loudly, ensuring that everyone in the ballroom could hear her. Six others were littered through the room—one at each of the three doorways, and the other three scattered through the center area of the room. The ones at the doors were each accompanied by a Pokémon—the one at the north entry had a Garbodor, the guard on the east side was with a Liepard, and the west guard stood beside a Bisharp. The six grunts and the Leader all wore trainer's belts, each with a full rack of Pokeballs.

_'And here I am, with only Max!'_ Matt thought angrily to himself. While the Herdier was quite capable in battle, there was no way it could take on 42 Pokémon, especially if they all were as imposing as the three by the doorways.

_'I radioed Anne nearly twenty minutes ago! Where the hell is back-up!?'_

What he didn't know was that while Anne had relayed his findings to the other Ranger teams and the Undella Police, the responding personnel had all made their way towards the Villa—right into the hands of Group 2.

"Lefty, hit it with an Air Slash and try to break through! We've got to get to Matt!" Anne called out. The Unfezant was struggling—but with two against one, she expected it to get rough. A Scrafty and Seviper proved to be a quite troublesome pairing for her strongest partner. The only reason it hadn't been knocked out already was her being able to be a second set of eyes for it, telling it when the second Pokémon was launching an attack from out of sight and how the proud bird needed to evade. Thankfully, it trusted her enough to act as soon as she spoke—it seemed like it didn't even think about what was said, simply acting almost on reflex. And that saved it from several brutal hits. The bird flew into position to launch its offensive. Whipping its wings forward viciously, a blade of air hurtled towards its target. The Scrafty was able to evade—the Seviper, however, was struck and sent reeling back towards the Plasma grunt commanding it.

"Scrafty, Hi-Jump Kick!" The dark-type reacted, getting a running start as Lefty rebounded from its attack. As it closed the gap, it leapt high into the air towards the Unfezant, kicking its foot forward and landing the blow square on the bird's chest. Lefty was launched back, landing hard on the roadway.

"Lefty!" The bird quickly rolled over, getting back to its feet with a fierce cry and taking to the air again.

"Heads-up!" Anne called out, throwing a Hyper Potion to her exhausted partner. The bird caught the bottle in its beak, its eyes fixed on the Scrafty closing in. As the dark type came at it with a Headbutt, the bird dodged. It crushed the container, drinking the potion as it spilled out, restoring its strength.

"Lefty—up!" The bird instantly shot upwards just as the Seviper's tail came slicing in from the left, narrowly avoiding the attack. It doubled back towards Anne, gaining some ground to get both foes in sight.

_'Damn it!'_ Anne cursed to herself, trying to lay a plan to overtake her enemy. _'Even after this, he still has four more Pokémon left!'_ Her hand rested on the two Pokeballs on her belt.

_'But if I call these guys out, it's still three on six! We can't afford to lose!'_ Her eyes shot to the sky for a moment, several Klinklang moving through the air over the town. She had tried to fly in with Lefty before the Klinklang nearly blasted them down. They were controlling the airspace, blocking anyone from flying past their perimeter. The area around the Villa was completely cut off.

"Alright, Lefty—are you ready?" Anne asked, a strained smile on her face. The Unfezant let loose a shrill cry.

"LET'S GO!" Anne shouted as the bird charged in.

"HEY, LOSERS!" The voice rang out, loud and clear, through the enormous ballroom of the Villa. Matt froze—he remembered the voice. Looking across the room, he saw Adam step to the front of the crowd near the south wall on the western side. The room was divided into two groups, now—the Plasma team had positioned themselves in the center, and the people of the party had separated into two crowds on either side of the three Plasma members. The grunts guarding the doors were outside of these two crowds, with the north guard centered on the northern wall. Following the boy's stare, Matt saw two of the three grunts in center heckling a younger girl for her jewelry.

"You gotta' pick on a girl to make yourselves feel strong? Talk about pathetic!" Matt was almost surprised—whether it was surprise at the boy's bravery, or his stupidity for insulting two Plasma grunts in the middle of a hold-up, he wasn't quite sure. Regardless, the two grunts weren't pleased with the trash-talk.

"Eh?" one of them replied. "What was that, pipsqueak?!" The grunt stormed over towards the boy, picking up a glass of water with his left hand from the beverage table as he passed by. The boy simply grinned.

"You heard me—I said you're—" A sharp thud seemed to echo through the otherwise silent ballroom as Adam was knocked to the floor, the grunt pounding his clenched fist into the side of the boy's face.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" the grunt taunted, leaning over the boy. "I couldn't quite hear you, boy!" Snickering, the other two grunts across the hall and the Leader turned away, continuing their hold-up. From the corner of his eye, Matt saw movement in the crowd. Turning to see, he watched a young woman step out from the crowd, approaching the grunt from behind as he stood over the boy.

_'Jane Doe!'_ Matt thought to himself. There was no doubt—she was dead-on for the composite sketch drawn up from the boy's neighbors' reports.

"Ha! Don't think that since you're wearin' a nice lil' dress suit, that you're somehow better than me! You're about fifteen years too early to talk down to me, runt!" The Plasma grunt put his boot on top of the boy's head, pushing it to the floor with a laugh. But Matt's stare was locked on Jane Doe.

_'Somethin's about to go down.'_ The thought just echoed through Matt's mind as he saw Jane Doe's face. Her expression was livid—her eyes seemed to be burning with rage. Before he could even begin to think of how to try and undermine the situation, to get the boy away from the present danger, she made her move.

_"Worthless garbage…"_ Her words were soft, but anger flooded them. Hearing the voice behind him, the Plasma grunt turned slightly to face her, finally lifting his boot from Adam's skull. As he turned, a hand gripped him by the left shoulder, forcing him around.

"Wha—" Before he could even finish, the woman stepped forward, leaned in, and forcefully exhaled on him. An intense pain flooded the man as the water in his glass instantly turned to steam, his face, neck, and shoulders erupted into an overwhelming burning sensation. The very air felt on fire—breathing in to scream, his throat instantly began stinging, and he couldn't even make a sound. The glass shattered in his hand. The woman stepped to the left, to the front of the grunt, with a swarm of dark energy surrounding her hand. Drawing back, the woman threw the dark blob forward, catching the grunt in the stomach with it. The sound of the blow echoed through the hall with a dull thud as the grunt was sent flying through the air. The other grunts, curious about the sound, turned just in time to see their partner flying towards them, landing hard on his back on the line of tables filled with appetizers and dishes of prepared food and bouncing off, landing face-down nearly at their feet.

"What the hell!?" another grunt exclaimed, kneeling beside the motionless body on the floor. "Hey, are you al—" He went silent as he rolled his partner over. His face was burned—covered in blisters that spread from his forehead down his face, across his neck, and all over his left shoulder. A burning feeling ran through the second grunt's hand, lifting his hand away. Melted polyester came with it—his partner's uniform was melted to his skin. Then, he noticed. The man was no longer breathing. Speechless, he looked up to the other grunt beside him, and their Leader, both with horrified expressions on their faces. Horror gave way to anger, and the three quickly returned their stares back to where their former partner had been standing.

Cyan was kneeling beside Adam, who was still sitting on the floor. Looking at his face—specifically, at his cheek where the grunt had struck him—she held her hand softly against his other cheek.

_"Adam! Are you alright?"_ she questioned, an unusual urgency in her voice. The boy turned slightly to face her, his eyes slightly watered.

"I'm fine," he said meekly. "It just hurts." The woman pulled him to her, clutching him tightly.

_"Forgive me, Adam…forgive me…"_ the woman whispered as she slowly eased her grip on him, pulling away slightly.

Matthew stood, like the rest of the crowd in the ballroom, dumbfounded by what had just happened.

_"HOW DARE YOU!"_ Cyan's voice was flooded with anger as she snatched her head to the side, staring at the Plasma members across the room from over her shoulder. She slowly stood up, allowing her hand to slide away from the boy's face as she slowly walked away from him, her hateful stare locked on Team Plasma.

"Shut up, lady!" one of the grunts shouted. "You think you're gonna' do something, huh? See how you like this!" The grunt pulled one of the Pokeballs from his belt, releasing a Krookodile into the room. The woman raised her arm in front of her, and a glowing orb rose up from the palm of her hand. As the orb rose higher towards the ceiling of the ballroom, the room was flooded with a bright light and a strong heat.

"What the—!?" the Plasma Leader shouted in surprise.

_"I've had enough of you."_ Cyan's voice was cold, her eyes still locked on the group of Team Plasma members.

"Ha!" the grunt called out. "I don't know what you're tyrin' to pull, but I'm endin' it right now! Go, Krookodile! Show that hag what those teeth are for!" Obediently, the Krookodile charged, quickly closing the distance across the ballroom. As it got closer, Cyan raised her hand again, her open palm facing the rushing Pokémon, watching it through her spread fingers. As it readied to attack, it opened its large jaws as it prepared to bite down on the woman. A sudden blast of light rocked the ballroom, and a high-pitched, rapidly undulating noise filled the air. As people looked on, the Krookodile went flying backwards, a large beam of light forcing it through the air. It collided with the two Plasma grunts and their Leader, knocking them all aside. The Krookodile continued, crashing through the northern wall and taking the northern guard with it. The two grunts in center stood back up, turning back to the woman. As soon as they did, two dark blasts of energy caught them both in the chest, sending them flying back at the wall. They crashed through, as well, disappearing somewhere behind the wall. The two remaining door guards came rushing in to their Leader, helping her to her feet before looking back to the woman.

Her hair was on fire. Or rather, her hair was becoming fire. The woman's long, light blue hair had taken on a darker color, but was now a blend of discolored flames dancing about around her back. As the flames spread, they seemed to rise into the air. Everyone had moved away from her, terrified at what was unfolding before them—although, the boy she was with stayed where he had been sitting, now standing and watching what happened. The woman slowly paced back and forth, the black cloth of her dress dancing wildly around her, as though caught in fierce wind. Her fair skin was growing paler, now almost a sickly, albino white with a tinge of blue. The woman raised her arms to her sides as the same discolored fire now swarmed around her outstretched hands. She closed her eyes briefly, but when she opened them again, they were no longer the bright green that they had been. They were solid yellow—no pupil, no white, just a sickly pale yellow. A sense of dread seemed to wash over the ballroom. The remaining three Team Plasma members watched on, almost fearfully.

"What the hell is she?!" the Leader shouted, the two grunts' blank expressions telling her that they were just as afraid as she was at the ghoul before them.

"All Pokémon out!" the Leader commanded. "Take this woman down!" The three of them each grabbed all of the Pokeballs on their belts, releasing all of their Pokémon. Golbats, Zebstrikas, Watchogs, Liepards, Gurdurrs, and Absols joined the Bisharps and Garbodors, and still others. Eighteen Pokémon in the group. Looking back to the ghoul of a woman before them, facing this group of formidable Pokémon, she was simply standing there with her arms at her sides, _smiling_. Her lips had turned black.

"ATTACK!" the Leader ordered, and the entire group rushed forward. Spreading out as they approached, the first wave charged in to attack. Right before their hits would have connected, the woman twisted and contorted herself, dodging them all. She merely spun and twisted, but with her flaming hands she would simply touch them. One by one they erupted into her discolored fire, their cries filling the room with a twisted shriek. The remaining few Pokémon from the group tried to charge in again, some catching ablaze from hitting the burning Pokémon and others meeting their same fate, suffering a touch from the ghoul's flaming hands and being bathed in her fire. The dark energy swarmed around her hands again as she blasted the blazing Pokémon away from her. Many went through the ballroom windows and landed outside, but a few landed near the Team Plasma members. One of the grunts collapsed, his Zebstrika falling on top of him and setting him ablaze. The remaining grunt and the Group Leader quickly stepped forward to help him, but the flames kept them back. The ballroom was bathed in the blue-ish glow of the ethereal fire. All at once, the flames vanished. The grunt and Leader went to move the Zebstrika when they both realized that it had no burns.

"Zebstrika, get up!" the grunt ordered, trying to push the Pokémon back to its feet. A sudden flash of fear on his face sent chills down the Group Leader's spine as she came to the same realization trying to help him.

The Zebstrika was dead. It had no pulse. It wasn't breathing.

Glancing at the other Pokémon nearby, they noticed they were all the same. Not one of them was breathing. Not one of them had any burns or injuries.

Matt's eyes were wide open in disbelief at the scene.

_'It's just like the ones at Mistralton!'_ the thought ripped through him like a knife. The blue-ish glow from Jane Doe's fire quickly ended his thoughts as he realized she was just behind the Plasma members.

The faint glow caught both the grunt's eye as well as the Group Leader's. Turning, they were face-to-face with the flaming ghoul. Panicked, the two backed away, trying to move backwards across the floor to get away before both hitting the body of the Bisharp. The ghoul simply followed.

"No!" the Group Leader pleaded. "Please, stop! Please!" The ghoul raised its hand as it drew back.

"PLEASE!" In one swift motion, Cyan slapped the woman, her wretched flames quickly spreading over her. On the backswing, she grazed the grunt, setting him ablaze. As the two began to scream, she reared back again with the dark energy around her hands and threw it forward in two underhanded strikes, the force launching the two Team Plasma members crashing through the windows on the east and west walls, landing outside.

As the people inside watched, the flaming ghoul seemed to sharply inhale before leaning forward and letting loose a blood-curdling shriek. From around her, veils of orange and blue-ish purple flames seemed to erupt from the ground, spiraling up to the ceiling before spreading across it and vanishing without a trace. Her scream rapidly faded into a high-pitched screech, almost a wailing sound. As she screeched, the pitch of her voice lowered slightly and she went silent, the pillars of fire around her vanishing. She looked back towards Adam, who was still standing and facing her. She ran back to him, the blue fire vanishing from her hands as her hair returned to its light blue shade and fell along her back, her yellow eyes returning to their shade of light green. The boy reached towards her, their hands clasped together, and they both ran from the ballroom out into the night.

Matt was dumbstruck. He knew, now, who Jane Doe was, or rather, _what_ she was. Knew, but couldn't believe. It explained the trances that took over the two other missing persons. What he had seen here, was more positive evidence. Her shrieking confirmed it—it was the very same sound, the very same cry, as what he had thought was responsible for the Pokémon deaths surrounding Mistralton in the last months.

'_A Chandelure?!'_


End file.
